After mining investment, Apple buys world's first “clean” aluminum batch

Last year we talked about an investment of $ 35 million that Apple was making in joint venture Elysis, a collaboration between two of the world's largest mining / metallurgical Alcoa and the Rio Tinto) which aims to put into practice an innovative method of aluminumwhich does not emit carbon monoxide or any other polluting gases.

Well here we are, over a year and a half later, and we already have the first milestone of the partnership: according to Reuters, Apple was the first buyer of Elysis 'clean' aluminum batch, still in the testing phase. The material will be shipped from Alcoa's research facility in Pittsburgh (United States) and used in certain Ma products, but we don't know which ones yet.

Elysis has received a total investment of $ 144 million (about R $ 600 million); In addition to Apple's contribution, joint venture It also received money from both companies (Alcoa and Rio Tinto) and the governments of Canada and the province of Quebec. Now, with the first batch of clean aluminum properly produced, companies will build foundry facilities to apply the method on a commercial scale; The technology will also be licensed so that other metallurgists can modify their facilities and adopt the new casting method.

Apple's vice president of political, social and environmental initiatives, Lisa Jackson, made a brief statement about the news:

For over 130 years, aluminum, such a common material for so many products used daily by consumers, has been produced in the same way. This is about to change.

It is not yet known when large-scale production of clean aluminum will start, but the conclusion of the tests gives a good indication that we will soon see the material being used in Apple and other companies' products. Meanwhile, Ma is using palliatives like using recycled aluminum on devices like MacBook Air and Mac mini.

Good news, no?

via MacRumors